Running and Workout Stuff (and a new playlist)

So it’s been a little over a month and a half of running three times a week, about 5k each time, and I gotta say…I am feeling pretty good about it.

How long do they say it takes to make something into a habit? 21 days? Nailed it! I am not getting too excited though…because this has happened before (many times) and then I inevitably fall off the bandwagon. This is the reality.

I mean, you guys know. If you’ve followed my blog for any length of time, you know my cycles with running. I start out feeling super motivated about it, kill it for a few weeks, start feeling all self-congratulatory about my running efforts, give myself all the pats on the back, write a grand blog post about how I’m back to running (this, by the way, is not going to be that blog post)…and then I inevitably slip back into not running. For months. And then I get into it again, and the cycle repeats. The worst is that every time I stop running for a while, when I start again it’s like starting over from the very beginning. I lose all my progress.

When I started six weeks ago I hadn’t been running since the fall, so I was pretty rusty. I would run for 2-3 minutes, walk for a minute, repeat. Then gradually I would up my running time, so run for five minutes, walk for one minute, repeat. The last two weeks I have been running for 10 minutes, walking for one-two minutes, repeat twice. Yesterday I ran for 12 minutes, walked for one, repeat twice. I am surprised at how easy that feels from when I started just a short while ago. I still don’t enjoy it all the time, but I am proud of myself for keeping with it and it’s motivating to notice improvement in myself. Once again I wish I could bottle up this feeling so that I remember how good it feels later when I’m back to being unmotivated. And the thing with running is, it totally changes my body composition and keeps things in check so my eating doesn’t have to be perfect. Wine and pizza on a Friday night? No problem.

Also, last week Evan, our roommate (Evan’s friend Ian is living with us for about six months or so, not sure if I mentioned that yet) and I started going over to the gym before work and lifting weights. Just weights, no cardio (so actually last week I only ran twice and then did the weight thing with Evan twice). I started this on my own but when I’m by myself I really tend to half-ass the weights.

So it’s much better having Ian and Evan as buddies. Evan is our “trainer” and put together a full body weights workout for the first couple of weeks that he calls the Noob workout.

(He got the exercises and reps from here and put it into that spreadsheet). It’s going well. And can I just tell you how amazingly wonderful it feels to work out in the morning before work? When it’s 8am and I have already accomplished something that I will be feeling the effects of every time I move for the rest of the day, and the next day… That makes me feel pretty hardcore.

And I definitely like to be sore after my workouts, because if I don’t I feel cheated. There is no better feeling than that workout sore.

Evan and I are going to Cuba for a week next Friday, so I think the biggest test will be if we keep this up when we get back. Last year I had been decent with the workouts leading up to our Cuba trip around the same time, and when we got back I completely fell off the wagon. That needs to not happen.

Anyway, back to the running, just quickly. I absolutely cannot watch TV or read while running on the treadmill. I don’t know why, but I’d really rather stare at the wall/myself in the mirror/out the window and try to zone out. For the first month or so lately I was really into the podcasts while I was running, but the last couple of weeks I find myself drifting back to my old faithful music. So I’ve made a new playlist! You can find all my past playlists here.

Spring 2015 Playlist

(clicking on any of the links will take you to the song’s YouTube video)

Wow…wish I had your motivation…you are killing it. I love that you are doing weights too. I want to do weights so bad but don’t know where to start and don’t have a workout buddy. How perfect that you have your live-in trainer. 🙂 You will look amazing for your Cuba trip!

Oh, this made me laugh because this motivation is new and it probably won’t last, but thank you. Honestly it’s getting started that’s the hardest part, once it’s a habit it really is easier to just do it. What kills me the most is that for about two years I was working out steadily 3-5 times a week and then I gradually stopped and I have never been able to get that kind of momentum again.
And I feel you on the weights. I have started many times and I STILL don’t know where to start. If I don’t have a buddy with me I just stare at the weights like “um, what am I supposed to be doing again?” So yes, the live-in trainer is quite handy 🙂

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Thanks for popping by! My name is Lindsey, and I pretty much have two moods: happy, or hungry. I like to tell stories and draw pictures of my adventures. I will do just about anything to make someone laugh.

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